Join the Conversation

Support NYS Extreme Risk Protection Order

Jeannine Weider
Published 12:02 a.m. ET Feb. 24, 2018

epaselect epa06547203 People visit a makeshift memorial in front of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in, Parkland, Florida, USA, 20 February 2018. Residents in the community honor victims of a mass shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on 14 February that left 17 dead. Nikolas Jacob Cruz, reportedly an expelled student, has been charged with seventeen counts of premeditated murder in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on 14 February 2018. EPA-EFE/CRISTOBAL HERRERA(Photo: CRISTOBAL HERRERA / EPA-EFE)

I’ve been advocating for my children since the day they were born, whether it’s academically or medically. One of my kids recently told me a peer confided in him that their family keeps firearms unsecured in their home. That shook me to the core. What if something happened? I realized I had to do something to fight for gun safety.

I joined my local Rochester chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. This group was founded on Facebook by a mother of five in response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Now a national organization, with chapters in every state and nearly 4 million supporters, we advocate for common-sense gun legislation, such as closing the loopholes in our background check laws and keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. We teach about responsible gun ownership through our Be SMART program, which urges parents to properly secure their guns so children aren’t able to access them.

The devastating school shooting in Parkland, Florida was a tragic reminder that without action from our lawmakers at the state, local, and national level, our children will continue to be killed in preventable acts of gun violence. In the most recent year of available CDC data, more than 1,600 American children were killed with guns, and nearly 7,000 were injured – an average of 23 children shot every day.

New York has long been a leader in passing strong gun violence prevention laws to help protect us, but we’re missing a sensible tool that might’ve helped prevent the shooting in Parkland: An Extreme Risk Protection Order. This is a policy that empowers family members and law enforcement to seek a court order to temporarily restrict a person’s access to guns when they pose a serious danger to themselves or others. This tool could help prevent future mass shootings as well as gun suicide.

Thanks to State Senators Kavanagh and Hoylman along with Assemblymember Simon, New York state legislators are considering Senate Bill 7133 and Assembly Bill 8976, which would establish an Extreme Risk Protection Order. It is up to us as parents and community members to demand that lawmakers prioritize the safety of our children and families. A tragedy like the one in Parkland could happen anywhere. Please tell your state representatives we need an Extreme Risk Protection Order.

If you’d like to help more, please join your local chapter of Moms Demand Action; text READY to 644-33. You can join us in Albany in March for a day of advocacy to make sure state lawmakers hear us loud and clear.

The time is now, before we suffer through yet another senseless shooting. Enough is enough.

Jeannine Weider is a Chili resident and a volunteer with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America